Are You Game?
by Tang Ri Shan
Summary: After rescuing Alan from Jumanji, Peter and Judy try to destroy the game, until they learn that the game cannot be destroyed. Worse, Judy and Peter are marked by the "spirit of Jumanji", and are told that they must now keep playing the game, or all of their town will suffer. But the game is even more dangerous than ever, and there are a few new surprises for Shepherds.
1. Chapter 1-Warning

Tang Ri Shan

Are You Game?

**Prologue**

"Ahh! Home sweet home!" Alan Parish sighed happily, spreading out his hands and twirling happily on the landing. Judy and Peter Shepherd watched from the top of the stairs, smiling, as Alan followed Aunt Nora downstairs.

"So, tell me about your latest role" Aunt Nora said, placing her hand on Alan's shoulder. Alan turned and smiled at her and she smiled back.

"I'm no psychic, but I'm hearing wedding bells" Judy stated

Peter suddenly made a face. "Wait, aww that means I have to wear a tie, right?"

Judy laughed out loud. "After all we've been through, wearing a suit should be the least of your worries, Peabody" She said as they followed Alan down the stairs.

"True" Peter replied, laughing.

**_Later that evening_**

Later that evening, Judy lay in her bed, tossing and turning, muttering softly in her sleep.

In her dream, Judy found herself walking through the thick jungle that was Jumanji. "_Great_" She siad to herself. "_I've been in Jumanji so many times that it's showing up in my dreams. I can't wait to destroy this thing_." The cries of birds echoed through the trees, insects buzzed through the air around her, but never seemed to land on her. Through the trees, she saw familiar sights, a crocodile floating on the banks of a river, a zebra stampeding through the trees, a black panther chasing after an antelope. Judy wanted to wince as she watched the panther catch the antelope, raking its claws down the creature's back, but strangely she didn't. _  
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BANG! Judy paused as a gunshot echoed through the air, then instinctively darted off the trail, crouching down behind a bush in the shadow of a big tree. If Van Pelt was nearby, she did _not_ want him finding her. He was scary enough in reality. Suddenly, she heard footsteps.

"RUN!" A panicked voice yelled.

"I AM RUNNING!" Another voice, higher pitched, answered. Judy frowned, she didn't recognize those voices. Two figures darted through her line of vision, one of them stumbled and fell. Judy caught a glimpse of long red hair and saw a flash of jewelry and smelled strong perfume as the figure picked herself up and rushed away, screaming, as fast as she could in her high heels. Judy rolled her eyes. Jewelry, perfume, _and_ high heels? That fool wasn't going to last five minutes! She had to help her! Judy slowly stuck her head out from behind her bush, scanning her surroundings for any sign of Van Pelt, but she didn't see the hunter. After a couple seconds, she took off in the direction of the screaming.

A few seconds later, Judy heard two gunshots, followed by a deathly silence. "No!" She exclaimed, rounding a great tree-and skidding to a halt. In a small clearing a girl in a fancy dress and a boy in a tuxedo were both sprawled facedown on the jungle floor, not moving. Van Pelt was standing over them, laughing. _"NO!_ Judy screamed, then clapped her hands over her mouth. Van Pelt looked up and spotted her before she could retreat.

"Ah, young Judy" He said, his grin widening. "I thought you had left Jumanji for good. Pity, you and your little brother were worthy prey, whereas your _replacements_..." He broke off, tapping the side of the boy with his boot. The boy didn't move. Only now did Judy notice a small puddle of red forming in the mud beneath him. The girl's white dress was beginning to stain red as well. As Judy stared at them, she felt tears come to her eyes.

"HOW COULD YOU?" She screamed, balling her fists and throwing Van Pelt her most angry glare, though the tears streaming down her face ruined the effect.

Van Pelt simply laughed. "It's the law of the jungle my dear" He said, as if it were the most common thing in the world. "Hunt, or be hunted. But, if you are _really_ looking for someone to blame, you need only look in a mirror."

"Wh-what do you mean?" She choked as she felt a sudden flush of guilt that she was not expecting.

"Like I said, _you_ were worthy. You and your brother are the best challengers to enter Jumanji. Trust me on that" Judy's eyes widened as Van Pelt respectfully nodded in her direction. "But not that you've freed that cur Alan, I imagine you'll move on, like everyone else who has played. And so, new players will find Jumanji, and the cycle will begin again."

"No! I won't let that happen!" Judy yelled, wincing as she saw blood freely flowing from the bodies of the two children.

"And how, may I ask, will you stop it from happening?" Van Pelt smiled.

"I'll destroy the game!" Judy yelled. "Then no one will be able to play-AAHHH!" Judy screamed as she felt something grab her ankles and yank her backwards. Before she knew what happened, she was upside down, starring down the barrel of Van Pelt's shotgun. Around them, the jungle suddenly came alive with the cawing of birds, the roaring of animals and the buzzing of insects. Even the trees themselves seemed to shake and moan. Judy thrashed desperately, trying to escape, but the vines that held her ankles were like iron, and they were slowly creeping up her legs. She could feel them tightening.

"YOU THINK YOU ARE THE FIRST TO TRY? YOU CANNOT DESTROY JUMANJI!" Van Pelt's voice roared over everything else. "JUMANJI MUST EXIST, AND IT MUST HAVE A PLAYER!"

Judy felt her face whiten as Van Pelt suddenly lowered his gun and stepped forward. He grasped Judy's upside down face and pulled it so they were eye to eye. "Tell me, who would you prefer to play this game? A champion who has triumphed here time and again? Or a rookie who would not last five minutes?"

Judy, who was now wrapped up as far as her chest, gasped and shook her head as she realized what he meant. "I can't, I'll never survive! And there's _no_ _way_ I'm risking Peabody's life!"

"Maybe you wouldn't survive at _this_ level" Van Pelt said cryptically. "But if you were to rise to the _next_ level, maybe you would persevere. What do you say, Judy Shepard?" Judy gave a muffled scream as she suddenly felt the creeping vines wrap around her face with lightning speed. "Are You Game?" Van Pelt paughed as the vines covered Judy's eyes, covering her entire body like a mummy. Judy screamed as darkness enveloped her.

"NO!" Judy sat bolt upright, her face and body drenched in sweat. She took a deep breath, than another. She glanced around, seeing her bedroom illuminated by sunlight streaming through the white curtains that covered the windows.

"It was just a dream" She told herself. "It was just a dream" She sighed with relief as she got out of bed. But it seemed so real.


	2. Chapter 2- marked

Tang Ri Shan

Are You Game?

**Chapter 1**

"Are you okay, Judy?" Aunt Nora asked at the table. "You haven't touched your food."

"I'm not very hungry" Judy replied, which was an understatement. The scenes from her dream were so vivid she was worried that she would puke if she tried to eat anything.

"Me neither" Peter replied from across the table. He had taken a few bites of his cereal, but he mostly just sat there swirling it around in his bowl. He looked depressed.

"Okay, what's with you two?" Nora finally demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"They're going through changes, Nora" Alan spoke up from the head of the table. "We all are. Don't worry about it" Judy shot Alan a grateful look and he smiled back at her.

"You okay, Petey?" Alan turned and ruffled Peter's hair. Judy grinned because she knew that Peter hated that. Peter gave Alan an annoyed look, but surprisingly, he didn't protest or argue.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Alan leaned closer as Nora got to her feet and headed out of the kitchen.

"I had a bad dream, last night" Peter muttered. "About Jumanji" Judy felt her body stiffen she saw Alan's eyes widen.

"What happened?" They both asked at the same time.

"Well, I saw Van Pelt shoot two people, calling them our 'replacements', then he warned me not to destroy Jumanji, or that something bad would happen. He said that Jumanji always needs a player." Peter explained, looking very depressed.

Judy's eyes widened. "I had the same dream" She said. Peter looked up at her and Alan turned to gaze at her. "What do you think it means?

Alan's face darkened. "It means that the sooner we destroy the game, the better off we'll all be." He said firmly, rising from the table. Judy and Peter watched him walk out of the kitchen, muttering to himself. Peter turned to look at Judy.

"Well?" Both kids looked up to see Alan glancing back into the room. "Are you two ready?"

"Ready?" Judy and Peter both stared at him.

Alan rolled his eyes. "Ready to destroy Jumanji?"He reminded them,sounding both eager and annoyed. Judy and Peter leapt to their feet.

"What?" They both demanded, panic flaring on their faces. Alan took a step backwards and stared at them, looking confused.

"Um-so...soon?" Judy corrected herself, trying to hide the nervousness flooding her mind and body. "Shouldn't we wait until after school?"

"Uh,yeah" Peter caught on. "We need the time to uhhh...get in the mood! " He gave a hopeful smile.

Alan snorted. "Nonsense! No time like the present! I'll get the fire going, you guys get the game from the attic!" Alan darted out the door and they could hear him snapping his fingers and muttering happily to himself as he headed outside. Judy and peter turned to look at each other. Peter nervously gulped, and Judy felt like doing the same.

"You can feel it too, can't you Peabody?" Judy asked.

Peter nodded. "Jumanji's not going to go down without a fight, will it?"

Judy shook her head. "Let's just get it over with." Judy pushed her chair back.

After placing their dishes in the sink, Judy and Peter slowly made their way up the stairs. As Judy reached the first floor landing, she suddenly froze as a sound reached her ears. She felt Peter stiffen beside her and saw his wide eyes lock with hers.

"_Drums!"_ He whispered. Judy nodded. The sound of tribal drums was ringing from upstairs, paralyzing Judy with fear. Peter suddenly frowned and began dashing up the stairs.

"Peter, where are you going?"

"I'm through letting Jumanji scare me!" He yelled back,dashing down the corridor. Her heart still pounding, Judy followed. The drumming grew louder, she began to feel it in the floor. As she burst through the door to the attic, the drumming was so loud that she had to cover her ears. She saw Peter standing in front of the game, which was vibrating and shaking, like something was trying to get out. Peter, his own ears covered, turned to look at Judy as she approached. He said something, but the drumming was so loud that Judy couldn't hear him.

"WHAT?!" She said

Peter yelled something back, but she could barely hear him.

"JUST PICK UP THE GAME!" Judy screamed as the drumming seemed to get louder.

Peter shook his head, he suddenly looked panicked.

"FINE! I'LL DO IT!" Judy reached to grab one side of the game board, but as soon as she touched it, the board suddenly snapped open. The crystal eye in the center of the board was glowing like a miniature sun. The board also felt strangely hot. Judy meant to drop the board, but her fingers wouldn't respond. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remove her fingers from the gameboard, almost like they had been glued to the hot wood.

"JUMANJI _MUST_ HAVE A PLAYER!" A deep voice echoed in Judy's mind. Panicking, she glanced at Peter and saw the same panic in his eyes. A hissing sound drew them back to the game and both kids gasped as the eye, which had been yellow before, now turned a deep black. As they watched, the blackness seemed to leak out fo the edges of the eye and travel across the gameboard towards them, like a living shadow. Judy's heart quickened as she watched the blackness come towards her and tried harder to move her hand. She could feel the muscles in her fingers, but they weren't listening to her and retained their iron grip on the box. She couldn't do anything except watch the shadow creep up to the edge of the box, then flow onto her hands. The instant the shadow touched her skin, a wave of intense, numbing cold shot through her body,so cold Judy cried out in pain and surprise as she lost all feeling in her hands. Suddenly there was a flash and Judy's hand suddenly burned. She was so surprised, her fingers suddenly opened and the gameboard fell to the attic floor. Judy clutched her right hand and watched in amazement as the shadow buried itself into her hand, tunneling under her skin. Before her eyes, a pattern began to trace itself on the back of her hand, covering her knuckles and spreading down her fingers. As suddenly as the action started, it stopped, and the cold numb feeling went away, replaced by the dull ache of pain. Judy glanced up and met Peter's eyes. Silently Peter held up his left hand, a similar design covered the back of his hand.

For a few minutes, no one spoke. "Jude" Peter finally mumbled, "What just happened to us?" Judy couldn't answer, she just stared at her hand again.


	3. Chapter 3- Vision

Tang Ri Shan

Are You Game?

**Chapter 2**

Judy normally enjoyed going to school, in opposition to Peter, who would be perfectly happy if school disappeared forever tomorrow. But today, she had trouble focusing on what the teacher was saying. Instead of the teacher's voice, which was usually loud and clear, all she heard was the thumping of her heart, which sounded _very_ similar to tribal drums. A strange feeling started to come over her, not a bad feeling, but a good feeling. She felt like a river of energy was flowing through her. As the day wore on, she became frigidity and had trouble sitting still. And there was the matter of her hand. It still burned from being 'marked' by Jumanji this morning. She hadn't had time to cover it with a glove, as Nora had dragged them out of the attic right after Jumanji had marked them. Judy had worried about what she would say when people saw the mark, but to her amazement, no one seemed to notice that she had developed an intricate tattoo on her hand. She had even waved it in front of someone's face to see if they would notice, but they didn't seem to be able to see it.

"This is really strange" Judy exclaimed to Peter at lunch, having just described her morning to him.

"Tell me about it" Peter replied, and he told her that he'd been having similar feelings all morning, his hand was throbbing, all this pent up energy flowing through him, the strange pounding in his ears. "It's gotta be Jumanji messing with our minds." he reasoned.

Judy shook her head, unsure. "Jumanji's never done this kind of thing before. Well, not to me" She added, as Peter gave her a look. A vision of her brother being transformed into various animals flashed through Judy's mind and she fell silent.

"Well" Peter flexed his hand, glancing at the swirling design. "It _does_ look knarley, and its kinda cool having a tattoo that only you can see"

Judy couldn't help grinning, but quickly sobered up. "I don't think Jumanji gave us these to make us 'look knarly'." She commented, clenching her fist. "We got these for a reason, so we just have to figure out what that reason is"

"Hey! Give those back!" A sudden outburst made both kids glance up from their meals. A few feet away, they saw Gregory, one of Peter's teammates on the baseball field being picked on by Rock and his gang. Rock had snatched a deck of trading cards from the boy's backpack and was waving them in the air, out of reach.

"Hah Hah!" He taunted. "The little dweeb still plays with dweeby baseball cards!"

"I wonder if he sleeps with them under his pillow" A voice piped up, making Judy groan. Turning she saw a girl striding towards them, wearing a fancy looking sweater and skirt combination, but platinum blonde hair seemed to flash in the cafeteria lights. Trailing her were at least a dozen other girls, all of whom were trying to imitate her as best they could.

"Cecelia" Rock breathed as she approached, a dumb smile creeping over his face. His eyes lost focus and he just stood there as if hypnotized.

"Hello, Rock" Cecelia purred, wiling her eyelids at him. Rock's face turned red. Judy looked away, disgusted. Every boy had a crush on Cecelia Rivers, the new girl. She'd only been at school for a month and she already seemed to run the place. Oh sure, she acted so innocent most of the school loved her, but people who she had abused, like Judy, knew what a witch she could be.

Judy braced herself to hear Peter's 'lovologue', a praise he would say every time he saw Cecelia, he would go all dough-eyed and would start drooling. Then he would stand there like an idiot and watch her go by, just like every other boy in school.

But Peter didn't say anything. Judy glanced at him. He was watching Cecelia, but he wasn't doe-eyed and his mouth was closed. "So, aren't you going to go ga-ga over Cecelia?" Judy teased. Peter looked at her, frowning in confusion.

"Why would I do that?" he asked.

"Because you always have since she came here" Judy replied, surprise clear in her voice.

"I don't know, she looks, different today. Not nearly as hot as usual" Peter replied, giving a small smile. Judy choked on her sandwich as she tried not to laugh. As she washed it down with water, Peter suddenly groaned. "Uh oh, look who's here" Judy turned around in her seat, and almost wished she hadn't. Evan Mill was coming their way. An extremely handsome boy, Evan had girls fawning over him the same way that guys fell for Cecelia. That is most girls. Even Judy would swoon over Evan as he walked by, but today, there was something different about him. He didn't look as attractive as he usually did. Judy glanced away form him to meet the wide-eyed gaze of her brother.

"What?" Judy asked, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"You're not watching him?" Peter gaped. "You always do that!"

Judy shrugged. "I guess he's 'not as hot' as usual today" She said, smiling. Peter snorted and shook his head. At that moment both siblings heard a hiss and their tattoos suddenly burned. Under their eyes, the lines embedded on their wrists began to glow dimly. Both kids clasped their hands over their tattoos.

"What's going on?" Peter exclaimed as the room suddenly started to spin. The cafeteria disappeared, being replaced by jungle. Judy gasped as the Stalker appeared before them.

"_Jumanji is waiting"_ He hissed at them. "_It's time to begin your_ _training_" Before either Judy or Peter could ask what he meant, the Stalker and the jungle vanished.

"What did he mean by 'training'"?" Peter asked, wide-eyed. Judy glanced down at her tattoo, which was still throbbing slightly.

"I don't know Peter, but I don't like the sound of it" She admitted, looking worried.


	4. Chapter 4- Return

Tang Ri Shan

Are You Game?

**Chapter 3**

After-school, Judy and Peter arrived home to find that Alan was out hunting-for a job. He left a note saying they could deal with Jumanji later. The two siblings tried, and failed, to focus on their homework. After a half hour, Judy threw down her pencil in disgust, glaring up at the ceiling of her bedroom. Ever since they had come home, they both heard the sound of tribal drums coming from the attic. The more Judy had tried to ignore the noise, the louder it seemed to get, pounding in her mind like a sledgehammer. There was also her tattoo, which had started pulsating with heat soon after the drumming had begun. The relentless assault by these two things made it impossible for Judy to finish her homework.

"Fine" Judy snorted, rising from her chair and stalking out the door. He met Peter outside the door to the attic, and he looked just as annoyed as she was.

"_Come, players"_ Both children froze as they heard the Stalker's voice. _"Jumanji is waiting" _

"Yeah" Judy growled as they opened the door and snuck up the attic stairs. "Waiting for me to teach it some manners"

"Chill Jude" Peter cautioned. "Insulting Jumanji never helps, you know that"

"Let's just get this over with" Judy dashed ahead when they entered the attic. The sound of drumming was now so loud that the siblings were tempted to place their hands over their ears. In the far corner, near the circular window, the game boards was rattling so hard it sounded like a stampede. The siblings ran over and Judy threw her hand down on top of the board to stop it rattling, but the board shuddered and burst open under her hands, flooding the room with light. Squinting through it, they saw words forming in the crystal eye in the center of the board:

_The Answers you seek lie within_

_Let your training now begin_

"I don't like the look of this!" Peter yelled as his face suddenly began to stretch.

"Here we go again!" Judy felt her body contort as both of them were engulfed in an aura of light and sucked into the game.

* * *

><p>Judy felt herself falling though a vortex of shimmering lights. The mark on her hand glowed in an eerie red light. There was a sudden flash and Peter and Judy thudded into the leafy ground.<p>

"Peabody, are you okay?" She groaned as she started to rise to her feet, but then froze as she heard a strange, but familiar clicking noise. She glanced up, straight into the painted eyes of a Manji warrior, who leveled a spear at her. Judy gulped. The Manji said something in his weird language. He sounded angry about something. Out of the corner of her eye, Judy saw Peter in rapid-fire discussion with two other Manji warriors. She felt a twinge of envy. _Sometimes I wish I could speak Manji_, she thought. "What are they saying?" She asked. The Manji warrior covering her thrust forward its spear and Judy fought the urge to cringe as the sharp stone tip was waved in her face.

"They're saying we just interrupted one of their biggest tribal ceremonies" Peter translated.

"And?"

"And, well, the penalty for doing that, is extreme torture" Peter finished.

Judy sighed. "Great! What _else_ could happen today?" She made to sit up, but the Manji warrior shrilled and jabbed the spear point into her face. "Ow! Stop it!" Judy snapped, raising her hand to brush the spear away. But as she did, the warrior shrieked and darted backwards. Judy froze as the Manji pointed to the marks on her hand. The warriors who surrounded them suddenly began chattering like squirrels, most of them glanced at each other, a few had run into the bushes, one or two had thrown themselves onto their knees in front of her. The chattering grew louder when Peter showed them his mark. Most of the Manji formed a group and began chattering eagerly among themselves. Peter tried to ask them what they were talking about, but they ignored him. Judy thought about using this distraction to run, but several Manji were still pointing spears at them and every twitch of her muscles seemed to alert them.

"What are they saying?" Judy whispered.

"I-I don't know" Peter replied. "Something about a prophecy, and a "blessing of the jungle". They're speaking so fast I can't hear anything else"

Suddenly the crowd parted and a familiar Manji appeared, short and squat. "Tribal Bob!" Both kids exclaimed, Peter in delight, Judy in nervousness. While it was true that Tribal Bob had helped them many times, he'd also come after them and Alan many times, so Judy wasn't ready to call him a friend yet.

The manji leader stepped up to Peter and clicked in Manji. Peter held up his marked hand, Tribal Bob looked it over very carefully, then turned to Judy and clicked. "Hold up your hand" Peter translated. Judy did as told, and Tribal Bob looked all over her hand as well. Judy noticed he did not touch either of them. Then he turned and made an announcement to the assembled Manji and, to Judy and Peter's amazement, they all dropped their spears and fell to the ground, bowing low before the siblings.

"Woah" Judy turned to find Peter staring wide-eyed at the bowing Manji.

"What?" She asked.

"Tribal Bob just called us the "true players" Peter turned to look at her. "He says we both bear the 'mark of Jumanji'."

"You mean these things?" Judy flexed her marked hand. Before Peter could answer, Tribal Bob turned back around to face Judy. He narrowed his eyes, like he was examining her mind, and chattered something in Manji.

'_Follow_'

Judy's eyes widened as Tribal Bob's words, though in Manji, rearranged themselves into english in her brain. "D-did you just...?" Judy paused. Instead of english, her mouth had given a series of clicks and whistles.

"Judy! You just spoke Manji!" Peter exclaimed.

"What's happening?" Judy tried to exclaim, but once again, her words came out in Manji. She clapped her hands over her mouth as Peter grinned.

'_Follow!'_ Tribal Bob clicked, this time more forcefully, before turning and walking back in the direction he had appeared from. Peter and Judy glanced at each other, than rose to their feet and followed him. The manji warriors, whom had been bowing this whole time, rose as one and trailed behind them, now silent as ghosts.

Peter and Jusy followed Tribal Bob though the jungle. He moved silently, leaping over small rocks and large tree roots that got in his way. Judy and Peter were not so quiet, barging through brush, tripping over roots and cursing. Every so often, Tribal Bob would glance back and his eyes would narrow, giving him the uncanny appearance of a schoolteacher whose students are not paying attention to the lesson at hand. After Judy caught him doing this for the third time, she decided to try to be more quiet. It meant she had to go slower and twice she felt the spearpoints of the Manji behind her jab into her back, but she threw them a glare and they backed off. They suddenly seemed afraid of her now.

After they had hiked through the jungle for what felt like hours, Tribal Bob pushed aside a bush to reveal a large stone wall. Looking up, Judy saw that the wall was actually the base of a pyramid-like structure that was completely overgrown with shrubbery. The stones were also painted in a greenish-brown color, the exact color of the jungle around it, thus making the structure almost invisible. There was a sudden clicking from the other Manji. Judy couldn't understand all the words, but it was clear that they were very nervous.

_'Enter'_ Tribal Bob whistled.

"Why? What is this place?" Judy heard Peter ask in Manji

_'Temple of True Players'_ Tribal Bob replied, than he waved his spear towards an opening halfway up the side of the pyramid. _'Enter, learn prophecy'_ He then planted his spear into the forest floor and crossed his small arms, as if daring them to argue. Judy and Peter exchanged a glance.

"Should we?" Peter suddenly seemed worried. Judy could hear the other Manji shifting anxiously. If this place scared the Manji, Jusy could understand why Peter was afraid.

"Might as well" She said finally. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and placed her foot on the first step. Nothing happened. "Come on" She said as she started climbing. After giving a final, worried glance at Tribal bob, who nodded, Peter followed.


End file.
